Improvement in manufacture of spoons



UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

G. I. MIX, OF IVALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS.

, Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 31,555, datedFebruary 25, 1861.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, G. I. MIX, of Wallingford, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Wiring and Strengthening Cast-Metal Spoons; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1 is afacesectional View of myinvention. Fig. 2 is a face sectional view of aspoon wired in the ordinary way. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section ofFig. 1, taken in the line x x. Fig. 4 is a detached perspective view ofthe wire used in my invention. Fig. 5 is atransverse section of Fig. 2,taken in the line y y. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of Fig. 3, takenin the line z e. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a spoon wired accordingto my invention. Fig. 8 isa perspective View ofthe handle of a spoonwired in the ordinary way. Fig. 9 is a plan or top view of the lowerpart of the mold in which the spoons are cast, showing the manner inwhich the wire is inserted in the mold.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

Spoons which are cast oi soft metal require to have their handlesstrengthened by a wire, andA these wires have hitherto been round andiitted in the mold by means of pliers, the metalbeing cast around thewire in the mold. The ordinary mode of wiring is attended with somedisadvantages. The first is, that the wire being round or cylindricalweakens the handle at its upper part,where it is broad and flat, as thewire allows but a small mass of metal at that point, and nearly dividesthe handle for a distance of half its width. The second disadvantage is,that the round or cylindrical rod or wire admits of the handle of thespoon bending after being cast, as the metal will slip over or aroundit, and consequently a cavity willbe left or allowed in the handle atits junction with the bowl, and this` cavity greatly weakens the spoonat the point specified. The third disadvantage is, that the wire beingadjusted in the mold by pliers considerable time is eX- pended in theproper prosecution of this work. My invention obviates all of thesedifficulties, as will hereinafter appear.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, Iwill proceed to describe it. j

A represents a piece of wire of suitable dimensions and bent in a zigzagform, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. This wire is of -iiat form, and itsends a a are flattened out broader than 4at points b above it, and thecenter part, c, of

the wire is also made flatter. This piece of wire A forms the wire fortwo spoons, but it is not divided until after the spoons are cast. Themold B, which is shown in Fig. 9, may be of the usual construction, andone-halfof the wire is adjusted in the mold, as shown in the saidfigure, one of the ends c being at the junction of the handle and bowl,and the dat part c passing out at the side of the mold. By thisarrangement it will be seen that one part of the wire A will serve as ahandle to adjust the other part in the mold B, and when a spoon is caston one part of the wire A, the spoon will serve as a convenient handleto adjust the other part ofthe wire in the mold to casta succeedingspoon, as will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 9. The wire Amay be held in proper position in the mold by a clamp, el, arranged inany proper way. The flat parte of the wire, it will be seen, passes outat the upper and i'lat part, el', ofthe handle, and consequently doesnot weaken the handlein theleast, (see Figs. 6 and 7 whilethe round rodor wire e hitherto used greatly weakens said part d', as will be seen byreferring to Figs. 5 and 8. The central part, f, of the handle of thespoon being thicker and approximating lo a spherical form, the wire Ahas its part b rather thicker than elsewhere, in order to give thehandle of the spoon the requisite degree of stiii'ness.

Vhen a spoon is cast with my improv ed form of wire, it will be seenthat the handle cannot slip longitudinally over the wire, for the broadterminals a will prevent it. This result generally adds to the stiffnessof the handle. The round or cylindrical wire e being of equal diameterthroughout, will admit ofthe metal of the handle slipping over itlongitudinally as the handle is bent. This result causes an opening orcavity at the lower part of the handle at its junction with the bowl, asshown at g in Fig. 2, and consequently the spoon will be much weakenedat this point as well as at the upper part of the handle, d. Myinvention not only obviates these difficulties, but also greatlyfaeilitates the casting` of the spoons, as the wires A may be adjustedin the mold Very expeditiously and in a very accurate manner. rlhe wiresbeing struck between two steel-tempered dies to give themtheirthin form,are of course perfectly uniform, the mold being fitted to them so thatwhen the beak or clainp is brought down on the wire it uniformly finds acentral position in the mold without any adj iisting,wliich enables thecaster to throw out at least onethird more spoons per day than by theold way, in which each wire has to be very carefully fixed after it isput into the mold before the caster is preparedto pour the metal. It maybe too high ortoo low, and frequently so much time is lost that the moldcools off so much that the casting will be imperfect. By my inventionthe spoons need no other manipulations after theyare Cast than to outolf the flattened wire close to the handle before they go to be polishedand finished in the ordinary way.

Spoons have been east with a wire or rod round, square, or flat,running` the wholelength of the handle, and they have been cast hollowand a wire afterward put into the cavity. In

all the above modes it was necessary to east the handle larger than thefinished article was designed to be, and the handle pressed into shapewith dies, and the excess of metal driven ont at the sides and thenclipped off.

In all the old modes, including the old way of turning the wire out atthe sideshort of the end of the handle, there is at least fromthreefourths of an inch in length to one-fourth inch more wire wastedthan in my improved way, which makes a Very imperfect stem.

g I do not claim, broadly, the casting of spoons withstrengthening-wires in the handles; but,

Having` thus described my invention,wliat I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Iatent, is-

The employment, in the manner and for the purpose herein shown anddescribed, of the zigzag wire A, formed as set forth, in vcombinationwith the molds B and spoons ff, all as i specified. t G. I. MIX.

Vitnesses:

EBENEZER H. INES, i THEoDoRn F. LANE.

